Disasters - a growing problem around the world.It's a fact - disasters are on the rise around the world. According to one estimate, the 1990s saw a tripling of disasters and a nine-fold increase in economic costs when compared with the 1960s. Climate change,earthquake,floods,storm increasing concentrations of people in vulnerable areas, and political and economic instability are all contributing factors.
The challenge is - how do we deal with this growing dilemma?

Refresher Training of CERT by FOCUS

Monday, April 2, 2012

Thiruvananthapuram: India's output of e-waste has jumped by eight times in the past seven years and the open yet illegal incineration of massive quantities of such trash may lead to serious public health hazards, a government report says.

According to the latest annual report of the Union ministry of environment and forest (MoEF), by the end of 2012, India would have generated a whopping eight lakh tonnes of e-waste—up eight times in the past seven years. Environmentalists point out that an additional 50,000 tonnes is imported from developed countries despite a ban.

"The burning of metals can give rise to dioxins and furans during incineration. Arsenic and asbestos may act as a catalyst to increase the formation of dioxins, which is carcinogenic in nature," the report says.

A state-wise break up shows that of the total e-waste generated in the country, 70% comes from 10 states — Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, West Bengal, Delhi, Karnataka, MP and Punjab.

"E-waste contains minerals that are both toxic and valuable to the industry. Heavy metals like lead, cadmium, mercury, brominated flame retardant, arsenic and nickel are harmful to the environment and pose grave health hazards," the MoEF report said.

Last year, the ministry notified the E-Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2011, making producers "responsible for environmentally sound management of the end-of-life products, including collection and recycling of the products".